“In the first half we gave only one chance away and it was a miscommunication between McNair and Blind. “But in the second half we scored and that is the most important thing.

“After that, we tried to kill the game, we had to kill the game for the first time. So I am very happy. In spite of the fact we killed the game, we created a lot of chances. Rooney could have scored, Mata could have scored for the second time and van Persie also. We did it well because three points was very important. Now we have an international break after a victory, which is always better.”

“For [Di Maria] it was difficult because the space was very small. That was difficult for every player, but especially if you are a player who likes to dribble with the ball. You have to dribble through a lot of players so it was more of a passing game. We did that in the first half very well but didn’t score. Then in the second half we did score.

“They were defending and not attacking, but they have very quick strikers and you have to always pay attention to that. You have always one moment and that moment came in the first half and it could have been a goal for Palace with the lob over De Gea. OK, we were lucky that time, but I think we deserved to win.”

“He didn’t change the formation or the style of play but he scored, and that’s always the most important thing. When you score, you win the game. Because of that we won. So I am happy with that.”